DOCUMENT REVIEW AND UPCOMING PUBLIC MEETING
PUBLIC NOTICE: A Change to Track 2 Record of Decision for the Parker Flats Munitions Response Area, Former Fort Ord, California
The community is invited and encouraged to provide comments on an upcoming change to the selected remedy for the Track 2 Parker Flats Munitions Response Area (“Track 2 Parker Flats MRA”). The change removes the residential use restriction from the 36-acre portion of the Track 2 Parker Flats MRA called “development reserve reuse area.” Public comments will be accepted through August 25, 2017. Community members are also invited to a public meeting on August 9, 2017 at which the Army will explain the modification, receive comments, and answer questions. After considering community comments, the final decision regarding this change will be documented in an Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD).
WHAT IS THE UPDATE?
In 2008, the Army selected a remedy for the Track 2 Parker Flats MRA consisting of land use controls to include: Munitions and Explosives of Concern recognition and safety training; construction support; and restrictions against residential use. While the “development reserve reuse area” was designated in the Fort Ord Base Reuse Plan as a development parcel that could include residential development as part of the reasonably anticipated future use, the selected remedy placed a residential use restriction to this area along with the rest of the Track 2 Parker Flats MRA. Subsequently, under the Environmental Services Cooperative Agreement (ESCA) at Fort Ord, Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA) collected new information by completing an evaluation and conducting additional verification fieldwork to include geophysical mapping on the “development reserve reuse area.” The new information is sufficient to support the removal of the restriction against residential use from this area. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that this change to the remedy is a significant change and California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has concurred. For significant changes, EPA requires an ESD.
WHAT IS AN EXPLANATION OF SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES?
An ESD process is used to document a significant change to the selected remedy in a Record of Decision (ROD). A ROD is a public document that explains the solution chosen to clean up a site (called the “selected remedy”). After a ROD is signed, new information may arise that affects the implementation of the selected remedy or prompts reassessment of that remedy. An ESD explains and formally documents changes to the selected remedy.
HOW TO MAKE COMMENTS
The upcoming change to the remedy for the Track 2 Parker Flats MRA is described in FACT SHEET – A Change to Track 2 Record of Decision for the Parker Flats Munitions Response Area, Former Fort Ord, California. The Army encourages the public to review the Fact Sheet and applicable documents in the Fort Ord Administrative Record to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the site and the Superfund activities that have been conducted.
Please send your written comments to the following address on or before August 25, 2017:
Department of the Army
Fort Ord Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Office
ATTN: William K. Collins
BRAC Environmental Coordinator
P.O. Box 5008, Monterey, CA 93944-5008
PUBLIC COMMENT MEETING
Oral and written comments will be accepted at a public meeting on August 9, 2017, at the Carpenters Union Hall, 910 2nd Avenue, Marina, CA. Meeting time: 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
WHERE DO I FIND THE RESPONSES TO MY COMMENTS?
The Army and EPA will consider public comments that are received during the public comment period before any decision is made. The Army’s responses to public comments will be included in an ESD. The community will be notified through newspaper advertisements when the signed ESD is available to the public at the Fort Ord Administrative Record.
